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> Assessment > 2005 Degrees Awarded History

2004-2005 Degrees Awarded History

Introduction

The number and type of degree awarded at Mountain State University (MSU) is defined by those degrees that have been approved by the Board of Trustees and the North Central Association (NCA).  Degrees awarded to students are recorded after the degree requirements have been certified as being completed.  The reporting period for each academic year has been defined as June 1 through May 31 and is reported to the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (WVHEPC) on or before June 15 of each year.

The number and type of degrees offered by MSU has changed dramatically over the last five years.  As the University adds higher degrees in the future, the degrees awarded will also change.  WVHEPC furnished the historical information necessary to provide a history for six years.  Since the changes in degrees awarded has changed so much, it was deemed that information earlier than six years would not be relevant to this analysis.  Information reported here begins with the 1999-2000 academic year.  Information has been provided indicating how the number of degrees by type has changed over the last six years.  All types have been on an upward trend with minor fluctuations through 2004-2005 with the exception of master's degrees which fell by 25% form the 2003-2004 to 204-2005.

The goal of this analysis was to identify the top ten degrees awarded for the last six years.  The data indicated that there were some major changes within the last three years with the addition of new degrees such as the Bachelor’s in Organizational Leadership and the Master’s in Strategic Leadership.  Therefore, additional analysis has been compiled for three years, two years and one year. 

Analysis

The top ten degrees were determined strictly based on the number of certified degrees awarded within the academic year.  If there was a tie on the number of degrees awarded as in the two year comparison, the top eleven have been listed.  It is interesting to note that over the last six years, the top ten degrees have contributed from 69% to 72.1% of the total degrees awarded.  The two year comparison included eleven degrees because of a tie for the tenth position and accounted for 75.5% of the total degrees awarded.

In 1999-2000 there were a total of 336 degrees awarded with the top degree being a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (BSBA) and accounting for 17.5% of the total degrees for that academic year.  Other degrees helped contribute to the total degrees awarded but it wasn’t until the 2002-2003 academic year that the numbers shifted dramatically toward the new degrees that were offered.

The six year comparison shows that the bachelor's in Organizational Leadership came in at number one with 13.5% of the total degrees awarded.  Surprisingly, the master's in Strategic Leadership came in at number two with 10.8% even though degrees have been issued for only the last three years.  The bachelor's in Business Administration (BSBA) came in at number three with 8.8% while the bachelor's in Nursing (BSN) came in at number four with 8.2% of the total degrees awarded.  The BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies contributed 8.1% to come in number five and the AS in Business Administration came in number six with 5.2% of the total degrees awarded.  The bachelor's in Physician Assistant came in at number seven with 4.9% while the bachelor's in Administration of Criminal Justice came in at number eight with 3.5%.  Number nine was the AA/AS in General Studies with 3.2% and number ten was the associate's in Occupational Therapy Assistant with 2.8% of the total degrees awarded.

The three year comparison shows that the bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership (BSOL) took the top spot with a total of 16.5% of the total degrees awarded.  The Master’s in Strategic Leadership (MSSL) ranked at number two with 15.9% of the total degrees awarded.  The bachelor’s in Nursing (BSN) came in at number three with 7.9% followed by BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies with 7.5% at number four.  The BSBA was number five with 6.6% and number six was the bachelor’s in Administration of Criminal Justice (ADCJ) with 5.2%.  An associate’s in science in Business Administration came in at number seven with 4.1% of the total degrees awarded and the AA/AS in General Studies ranked number eight with 3.7%.  Number nine was the bachelor’s in Social Work (BSW) with 2.6% and number ten was the bachelor’s in Physician Assistant with 2.1%.

In the two year comparison, the MSSL program came in at the number one slot and accounted for 17.2% of the total degrees awarded.  The bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership (BSOL) took the number two spot with a total of 15.6% of the total degrees awarded.  The bachelor’s in Nursing (BSN) came in at number three with 8.4% followed by BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies with 7.6% at number four.  The ADCJ was number five with 6% and number six was the BSBA with 5.2%.  An AA/AS in General Studies came in at number seven with 3.8% of the total degrees awarded and the associate’s in science in Business Administration ranked number eight with 3.1%.  The master’s in Physician Assistant ranked number nine with 3.1%.  This tied with the number eight position and the ranking was arbitrary.  Finally, the associate’s degree in Respiratory Care and the BSW tied for the number ten spot with 2.6% of the total degrees awarded.

In the 2004-2005 academic year, the BSOL ranked number one with 18.9% and the MSSL came in at number two with 12.4%.  The BSN was number three again with 8.1% while the ADCJ came up one spot to number four with 7.3%.  The BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies had 5.1% and came in at number five.  The BSBA came in at number six with 5.1% and tied for the number five spot.  The master’s in Physician Assistant came in at number six with 4% of the total degrees awarded.  The new bachelor’s in Medical Science entered the top ten with 3.9% and ranked number eight.  The associate’s in Respiratory Care came in at number nine again with 3.4% and the AA/AS in General Studies came in at number ten with 3.2%.  The BSW fell out of the top ten and accounted for a little over 1% of the total degrees awarded in the 2004-2005 academic year.